Fate,Pact and Tale
by flamecrash
Summary: Rewritten version of 'Pact, trust and Tale' Fantasy Au. The world is full of Chaos, The demon king (Also known as 'black mage') Has sent forces to terrorize people. Freud and Evan want to change that and make the world peaceful but will they succeed with odd interventions an unknown past and a band of odd contracted misfits? Rating might change later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Heya! Thanks for being patient~**

**Welp my little story is out now yay~**

**One of the first thing i took into consideration is 'did Freud wait for a damn letter to appear before making his move? Nope!' So after much consideration this story is written anew~ (Hopefully i can do a good job this time)**

**EK12- Hehe just wait and see! I'll make it so that he totally blends in with this crazy group! He deserves a better fate and i PREFER a happy ending~ Btw thanks for the suggestion~ I'm tweaking the title a bit cuz yours really IS more ****descriptive~**

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Blaze, fire spread through everywhere. Freud walked through the debris and cringed at certain corpses, they looked like they were clawing to get free. Another helpless village burned downed by the Demon king(Aka Black mage)the auburn haired mage walked through deeper after performing a proper burial. That was when he heard it, the sound of someone wailing. Freud immediately dashed to the source to find a miniature version of him on the ground crying for the loss of three corpses.

The mage immediately went to embrace the child "Calm down, its alright the evil ones are no longer here." It took him awhile but he somehow managed to chase away the minions of the demon king, however, he did not arrive in time to save everyone. Those that were alive already fled, except for this one. The small boy sniffed and turned sad sea blue orbs towards Freud "B-But Mom and Dad! Even Utah got burnt alive! T-They d-didn't w-want t-to leave m-me b-behind! N-now t-they w-won't e-even w-wake u-up!"

"Oh dear child…..They will no longer awaken. They have been put to rest. For eternity…." The boy's eyes widened as he clenched Freud's robes tighter and crying into his robes, the mage could only rub a comforting hand on the child's back. Freud knew it would be better to say it instead of letting the boy think that he will ever gain a chance to see his parents and siblings again, false hope is something far too cruel. "M-Mister, w-what d-do I do n-now?"

Freud himself did not know, his parents are gone and he couldn't just tell a random stranger to help, not thinking one bit that he himself is a stranger. He would one day question what came out from his mouth. "Would you like to come with me?" Freud asked. The boy blinked before saying "I-Is t-that alright? I m-mean, w-won't I b-be a burden?" The mage shook his head "Currently perhaps, but I will teach you to stand on your own."

The boy gave him a slightly determined look "I-If I g-go with y-you would I be a-able to learn how t-to s-stop t-this f-from happening to anyone e-else?" Freud look slightly surprised, instead of seeking revenge the boy wanted to prevent tragedies from happening? "You will, I'll take you in as an apprentice." Now that he took a good look, he could sense the great potential this small boy had.

"But first, lets perform a burial and say you farewells first shall we?" The boy nodded and got to work. "B-by the way mister, w-what's your name?" "Freud, I'm a traveling scholar." "O-oh, I'm Evan!" Evan says trying to sound a _little_ cheerful. "How old are you?" "Umm fourteen." The mage froze for a second before continuing work, fourteen and his parents are already gone. His parents died when he was seventeen, at least he could fend for himself but this child…The mage shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. (Oh if you're wondering Freud is around nineteen years old)

With everything done and items packed, the new apprentice and teacher left the burned down village.

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Currently, its been a few months since Freud took Evan under his wing. While the boy made excellent progress, he was a tad bit clumsy at times which the auburn mage found endearing. The duo were on their way to Leafre where Freud's home was located. The auburn mage planned to teach Evan with some ancient scrolls and techniques on them, he was sure he could turn Evan into an outstanding elemental mage or a contractor, or possibly both. However, even before they reached the safe area of Leafre, they were surrounded.

There were a few wolf like demons and some pixies among them, Freud couldn't see but he could sense Centaur archers somewhere nearby, prepared to shoot and kill in a single draw. Evan squeaked and inched closer to Freud "Master Freud! Why are there so many!" The auburn mage couldn't answer as four arrows were shot towards them. Years of training made Freud exert large amount of mana at one go, easily repelling the arrows as the mage countered with large fireballs.

This action set everything in motion as wolf demons leaped at them to claw out their flesh. Evan stepped in to counter before twisting around to hit another with ice spells and poison spells. The act was repeated many times until the panting mages were close to running out of mana. Yet there were a few tens of demons and beasts left. A archer saw that the duo were giving him an opening, letting him fire an arrow. The mages reacted too slowly and the arrow was close to killing them.

Until a strong gust of wind blew.

The demons and beasts seem to pale as they scattered, hearing a loud resounding roar. Freud and Evan turned to look up at a majestic dragon whose snout was near them. It gave a genuine warm smile making the two loosen up a bit. "I am terribly sorry about their behavior. I thought I already banned human hunting around here but I guess some just do not listen." Freud was the one who recovered first before giving a curt bow. "I thank you for your assistance. Tell me, who are you?"

The dragon rested his large body on the flat ground before replying "I am the leader around these parts. They call me Afrien, King of the Onyx dragon." Evan really didn't understand much about those odd titles as he went to scan the dragon's scales. "You have nice looking scales! Never saw a dragon before!" Afrien blinked before replying "Thank you for the compliment. Now then, I am certain you are exhausted. Please come with me. I have to somehow make up for this mess." Afrien could sense that the mage wanted to refuse.

"No, I insist." He said before grabbing both the mage's collars and gently place them on his back while extending his large wings. He flapped them, giving off a large gust of wind as the dragon took off to his nest. By the time they arrived at the cavern, it was soon approaching evening as his home is surprisingly far away from where he picked the duo from. Afrien left once again before returning with his caught and nicely skinned pounds of slightly charred meat. The trio ate in silence until Freud broke it. "Tell me Afrien, why were you there at our location?" The dragon stopped its meal as he stared into sky blue orbs "It….is something personal."

But Freud pushed on "Please do tell. We could assist you in your problem after all, you did save my apprentice and me." Evan turned to focus on their discussion and was surprised to see slight anger in the dragon's eyes, it let out a menacing growl and Evan flinched but Freud held his ground.

"It's the lot of them! When the demon king dared to attack my people, he turned several of them against me! He killed my love and even has the gull to order people to sneak back in to rob my precious egg!" he roared, the sound was deafening as the dragon let loose his problems to a stranger he barely knew. But those eyes! They were so wide and ready to accept, just like the open sky. They made him feel like letting out all that he kept bottled in, why, he did not know. "He shattered my blessings and made the egg vulnerable to all. Its easy to steal now and I heard that bandits got a hold of it while I was out defending my people."

"The humans would not listen to my request to assist me with their network of information. Halflingers tried to help me but even they could not top the information that humans have, I have asked many times but they merely chased me away. I didn't go in a group as it would frighten them." Afrien elaborated as he finally calmed down, feeling a weight lift from his chest. "I see." Freud said at last.

Evan however felt rage, how could they turn down a request when he _asked_ nicely instead of demanding? "Master Freud, can we help him?" Afrien looked shocked while Freud nodded his head. "I did say that we could try to assist. After all, I have an inkling as to why they turned down your request and I have to admit, its probably not very fair." Afrien looked at the duo, for some strange reason he felt like he could put his faith in them, that they will succeed.

"I-" "Do not say thanks for we have done nothing yet. We should start out with information gathering." Afrien sat on twos as he glanced down at the two "Nevertheless you have offered your help and I should express my gratitude." Evan decided to cut in before they could argue on politeness and he knew that could take awhile. "Umm so Afrien, what leads do you have now?" The dragon turned to look at smaller mage "I heard from a very trustworthy source that what seems to be bandits have carried off something that matches the description of my egg. However, tracking them down is something I have not yet succeeded."

Freud pondered about something before asking "Do you have a description on what they look like?" "Actually yes. They wore rather thin clothing and wore a cloak on top of it." The scholar placed a hand on his chin "Thin clothing? Hmm, quiz time Evan. What inhabitants wear thin clothing as casual attire?" "E-eh? Umm since the weather is actually quite cold, they wouldn't wear something like that unless they lived in a very hot area like a desert."

The auburn mage nodded in satisfaction at the description "How long ago did you receive this information?" The dragon answered immediately "Not too long ago, around a few hours I think. I heard that the egg changed hands quite a bit, I speculate that my egg was sold," he scowled at what the person was doing to his egg "and that the person who recently got it was seen hastily trying to get away." Freud pieced together the information and smiled.

"Now that we pieced together certain information, its not that difficult to predict what the man is going to do next, listen up…" Freud said the plan and his opinions on certain things as he took in the widening of the other twos eyes. "Wow Master Freud, that actually sounds reasonable enough to be the truth." Evan spoke out loud and Afrien agreed with him "Indeed, if things go as you say then retrieving the egg should be possible. However the humans-" Freud lifts his hand to cut Afrien off "Not to worry I'll take care of that." His eyes held a mischievous glint.

Evan inwardly panicked, oh he knew that look alright. It meant that his mentor had some crazy idea that would work and its downright scary! Think he's over exaggerating? Once Freud had him train with the people of Mu Lung Dojo, Evan had to say that the panda's were friendly but could pack quite a punch! The boy swore he couldn't move for weeks!

"If that's the case then I leave it to you." The mage nodded "Good, now then, it seems we have preparations to make."

A man wearing a sandy colored cloak panted as he reached Leafre. Things were going smoothly for him, but still the queen of Ariant was crazy! All of a sudden demanding that she wanted a cute dragon or dragon egg for her collection. Yup she's nuts but hey the pay was good and the deal was great so heck with it. As the man ran towards the departure area for his trip back to Ariant he noticed something odd.

There were hardly any people here.

Okay so maybe the time was very early but still, there are bound to be people bustling about at this time of the morning and yet the place was eerily silent. As he was pondering he didn't noticed that he crashed into someone and almost made him drop the egg on the floor. He sighed in relief when he found out it didn't.

He turned to shout at the man blindly standing there and found that the auburn haired man was slightly taller and had quite the intimidating aura on him. "Oh? That's an interesting item you got there. Mind letting me see it?" Piercing sky blue eyes stared at him. "I-I'm afraid I can't." "Why? Because its not yours?" The man was startled at a new voice and turned around, only to be met by a furious dragon, the reptile pointed a golden claw at the egg the man was hugging tightly.

"That appears to be MINE." The dark scaled dragon growled. The man wanted to run only to find that the area was surrounded with onyx dragons. "W-Wha-?!" Afrien slammed a claw in front of the man to prevent escape "You have guts to try to steal from me, the onyx dragon king!" The man eyes widened in fear as he pieced together the information. Freud lifted his staff and jabbed it at the man's back. "You're not running away." The fear filled man used his last resort and brought out a dagger.

"Stay back! Or the egg goes 'bye bye'!" What all of them didn't notice is faint glow the egg emitted. As the man inched away, Evan came swooping down while riding a onyx dragon and swiftly plucks the egg away from the man's hands. Freud and Afrien used this moment to pin the man down, unaware of what was happening to Evan.

All the boy remembered was grabbing hold of the egg and the next moment he knew he was floating in the air with no one around. So he does what any normal person would do, explore. Evan walked around until a shadowed figure loomed behind him, the apprentice swiftly turned around to see a miniature Afrien. The mini Afrien came to him and rubbed his snout on the boy happily. Evan loved any forms of animals, especially cute docile ones. The boy reached out to pat the dragon on his head seeing a mark glow on his hand.

'_The pact is sealed. You have made the unbreakable pact, a inseparable contract with a trusted partner, bound together by the threads of fate._

_To live or to perish, this sacred contract will last through both.'_

What does that mean?! Yes he knew about contract or pact making but he hasn't learned HOW to yet. So what did that odd voice mean? With a blink he found himself back in board a dragon's back. But instead of a egg in his hands he found a small blue dragon smiling at him "Hiya! I'm Mir!" "what is this?!"

Back down on ground, Afrien panicked as he saw the egg shells fell down but sighed in relief when he found out it was empty.

But wait.

If its empty, where is the contents? Just then he heard a loud scream as the onyx dragon Evan was on landed as well. Freud was amused and interested to say the least to see a cute small baby dragon nudging his apprentice, calling him 'master' "Well well dear child, what an interesting feat you've managed to accomplish." Evan groaned. "Freud! I don't know how this happened! One moment its 'contract bounded by fate' or something like that and now it's a dragon calling me master and demanding for food."

Freud turned to him with shocked eyes "Did I say something wrong Master Freud?" The said mage muttered something before grabbing his apprentice shoulders "You made a spirit pact! That IS quite a feat, say Afrien was that egg meant to be like that?" Afrien was busying hugging his child and was near tears at seeing the tiny reptile safe, something about never letting anyone near him again before being able to answer the question.

"Sometimes the egg is special and is only allowed to hatch after meeting several conditions. No wonder he didn't hatch no matter what I did! But still a spirit pact…" Afrien mumbled something as he lifted the Mir up. "Freud, Evan. I must express my gratitude. I have given almost nothing to you yet you've manage to return my child to me." Afrien said as he turned and bowed deeply. "There's no need Afrien!" The duo chorused. "No. It IS a big deal and I _will_ make it up to you." The dragon said with much resolve as Mir squirms in his grasp.

"Master I'm hungry!"

What a way to spoil the tense moment/ warmth filled moment.

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**I hope that wasn't too fast. But then again, most would start of with Afrien and Mir already having a Spirit pact so...yeah.**

**I wanted Freud to be more human! Some fics i saw he's a bit too...stone-faced, but hey he will be like that in this fic as well but only to strangers. He's more softer and a whole lot more expressive in this fic because Evan is sort of like a son to him~**

**Oh and if you're wondering why from the bandit(S) to 'him' its because the egg changed hands a few times so that itself is pretty self ****explanatory.**

**Anyways~ Please Review~**


	2. Chapter 2

Its been a few weeks. Freud has somehow worked his magic once again as now in Leafre, halflingers, humans and dragon are living in harmony. Freud somehow managed this after a short time while teaching Evan at the same time, a feat really. Afrien however was puzzled by the methods of this rather weak looking mage (Though the dragon knows that's far from the facts) and interested at the same time. "Freud how _do_ you manage this?" Afrien asked as he gestured with his claws.

The mage didn't say anything until they reached his home in the outskirts of Leafre. "Well with a bit of useful information and the way to tactfully utilize it is one." Afrien wanted to question this 'useful information' which got the head of Leafre to make the place more open and sociable to all, many places were biased and would case other races out of their 'territory. Freud spoke again bringing the reptile out of his musings.

"It is a start of something I want to accomplish. To make other towns like the current Leafre or maybe like Ereve. I want this place to be a peaceful world and I'm not someone who dreams or is attempting a far fetched dream because I _know_ this is possible." Afrien couldn't find words to respond to that. Such a pure untainted dream this resolute mage was devoted to yet it seems so far away. Evan came in dashing as he held up Mir "Look look Master Freud! Mir somehow grew bigger!"

Freud smiled at his apprentice antics, though it is true that Mir had an odd and astounding growth rate, though inwardly the dragon was still a child. The auburn haired mage clapped his hands twice, drawing attention to him. "Evan, I'm thinking of leaving Leafre in three days time. We have already gathered the materials required and various information as well." Evan nodded enthusiastically as he explained to Mir the great adventures they were going to go to.

Afrien however was shocked. Three days? That was a rather short time, plus he knew Mir would have to go with them as he already made a spirit pact but it would be rather lonely not being able to see the trios amusing and interesting acts when they leave. Should he follow? These thoughts ran through continuously in the reptile's mind.

"Afrien is something the matter?" The dragon started in surprise before hastily replying "N-No, not at all. I just have something I need to take into consideration." The black scaled dragon then took off into the sky. "What's wrong with Afrien?" Evan asked curiously "I'm sure its something he can sort on his own. Come now child we have a few more topics to cover about contracts." Evan hopped into the house eagerly with Mir tagging behind.

On the night of the second day, Freud finished up in the various topics of contracts "Now then to summarize there are only a few types of contract, the temporary ones, the permanent ones and there is of course the spirit pact to name a few. A final question before we go to bed, are we allowed to form contracts/ pacts with every demons or beast?"

Evan tiredly replies "Yeah…except for those who already has contracts." Freud nods in satisfaction as he shuts the tome. "Very good. You can go and take a rest now." Mir had already fallen asleep on Evan's lap, apparently stuff like this bores the dragon. "…..M'kay night Master Freud…." Evan drags himself to bed as Freud walks out to get some fresh midnight air.

The auburn mage felt comforting and gentle breezes with the smell of the forest on top of it all. Until he felt a presence nearby, it was one without malice so he let it pass. Freud felt a pair of wings surrounding him from both sides as he turned around to meet a very serious dragon. "May I help you Afrien?" The dragon said nothing as a magic circle appeared underneath them. To say that Freud was shocked was an understatement, the mage scanned the circle to find out it was one for a spirit pact. "Afrien-?"

"It took me time to get this ready. Since its not like the case with Mir I had to set this up manually." Afrien said as he kneeled down. "_I pledge my soul to thee, I swear fealty to thee, under the bound of this sacred contract will our bond last through eternity_." Freud's mouth moved on his own after hearing what Afrien had said, his eyes half lidded as if in a trance "_Thy loyalty is accepted, we are now one. Neither serves the other but as an equal would our bond last forever._" The circle shrank into a marking as the two felt their souls merge into one, it was an odd feeling but never an unpleasant one.

"Afrien, do you know what you have done?" Freud asks seriously to which the dragon met with an equally determined face "Yes I have. I've considered everything, you have extended your help to me as well as treating me as a friend, a truthful one. There is nothing that I doubt nor regret. I _know_ I am safe and that I can trust you." Freud stared a bit more before giving a genuine smile. "Very well then, I'll count on you from now on partner." "Wherever and whenever you need it master."

Freud groaned "You too?" Afrien gives a joking smile "Oh why-ever not sire?" "You're making it worse." "You must be mistaken my liege." Freud sent a glare before collapsing with fatigue "That…took a lot out of me then I expected." Afrien gave a warm smile before wrapping Freud up with his tail, making the mage lie back against the dragon's large body. "Sleep then, I will ensure nothing happens to them or you." Freud didn't need anymore invitation as he fell into a deep slumber.

Evan woke up the following morning feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Mir awoke not too long after, they went into the living room to find that breakfast hasn't been made yet. So he decided to make a simple one (Freud thought him how for survival sake) and went looking for his mentor only to find him resting snuggly between Afrien's body and scales.

Afrien snapped to attention when he sensed another presence but relaxed when he saw that it was only Evan and Mir. The apprentice went up to the dragon while placing a finger over his mouth "Shh. Don't wake Master Freud up! I never saw how he sleeps because I always sleep first and he's awake first in the morning!" Evan hissed as Afrien chuckled while nodding to show that he understood.

Evan sneaked his way through avoiding Afrien's appendages as he glanced at his mentor's sleeping form not too far away. _'He usually never lets his guard down like this.'_ Evan told Mir mentally. '_Really?_' Evan nods '_yeah he somehow manages to tell when I want to come to his room, he looks really peaceful now-_' "You know, I could tell from a mile away." Evan started in surprise and fell as Freud looks at the boy with amused eyes. "M-Morning!" The boy stammers, Freud chuckles as he sat up. "I suppose you made breakfast?" Evan nods as he leads Freud back in, Afrien took Mir out hunting as a dragon 'should learn to catch his meal' an indefinite must, the dragon insisted.

So after breaking the news to Evan who could only stand there in shock and joy as he packed as essentials, Mir came crashing through the window with the same elation "Yippe! Papa's coming with us!" and the two went back chatting in their own world about more adventures and something about in the end 'slaying a foul king' which Freud assumed would be the demon king. After all, how would you obtain peace with the main problem still there, he would settle for a more peaceful method but…(Can you imagine the 'black mage' and the word 'peace' together? Nope!)

"_Freud? Can you hear me?"_ Freud blinked before answering _"Yes loud and clear what' s seems to be the problem?"_ Afrien replied hastily _"Little Mir is gone! One moment I was telling him about our pact and the next 'poof'! gone!"_ Freud blink before chuckling out loud, successfully drawing attention from the duo in front of him "He's back here with me completely elated about the news." For reasons unknown, Afrien managed to hear him and came back in record time. "Mir! I was so damned worried!" Steam came from the dragon's nostrils making Mir flinch, after a round of apologises, they departed for the next area.

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**Hmm, i actually wanted to write another chapter...Well we'll see.**

**Kukuku...Anyone wants to take a guess in what that 'useful information' is?**

**Anyway please review~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Umm hey there guys~**

**Eeep! Keep away the pitchforks now...Lets settle this in a civilized manner haha...**

**well sorry bout the late update, honestly wanted this to be earlier.**

**Now then people~ Go ahead! On with the chapter~**

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"So where are we going now Freud?" Afrien asked, after arguing about it for a long while, Freud managed to get the dragon to stop saying 'master' or 'sire' and just his normal name. Freud thought about it as he saddled Afrien and watched with amusement as his apprentice along with Mir struggled to get the supplies on board the huge dragon. "Hmm we'll go to Ellinia then. An old friend of mine has told me about new interesting books he had found and wanted me to help him with it." The auburn haired mage then decided to assist his apprentice before the boy and baby reptile starts turning blue.

Although Mir had grown with a fast rate, his body had not been strong enough to lift Evan yet. Thus because of Afrien's large size, the onyx dragon king could fetch them together. "Are you talking about Grandpa Grendel, Master Freud?" Evan had met the wizard before and found him similar to grandfather he never had. "Yes that is correct, he also wanted to see you again." Grendel immediately took a liking to the curious boy on the first day finding his curiosity on different subjects endearing.

"Does he have food Master?" Mir asks excitedly while flapping his medium sized wings eagerly. "You can catch some food there. I remember there were blue slimes there somewhere." Mir's eyes twinkled with interest as Freud signaled the duo to get on board. Afrien stretched his large wings and took off, gliding in the air.

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"Ah Freud, how nice to see you again." Grendel shook hands with Freud until Evan came hurling himself towards the old wizard "What about me Grandpa?" Grendel chuckled as he patted Evan fondly "Ah yes, how could I forget about you child. My you've grown quite a bit! I can't lift you at all now." Freud laughs and adds in "Not like you were able to completely lift him before."

Grendel decides to send a glare towards the still smiling mage "Last I checked, you weren't able to do it either." The old mage glances down at Evan who was still hugging him "Now now little Evan, don't be like you Master alright? He may look like a smiling saint now but trust me, inside is a snickering cunning fox!"

"Eh?! Really?!" Grendel nodded seriously. "No joke child. Once he was sent to me for a bit more tutoring and he nearly singed my beard off! He was smiling back then too." Freud then blushed a bit and turned away. "An innocent mistake that was. I was giving you a sheepish smile not a cunning smirk."

"Sureeeeeee you were." Afrien decide to cut in before they spill more stuff about their past. Grendel seems to finally notice the two reptiles as he gave a curt bow. "Ah apologies, got caught up too much in chatting. Where are my manners? I'm Grendel the resident mage in this village, pleased to meet you." Afrien returned the bow and Mir did a sloppy one "Pleasures mine. I'm Afrien, King of the onyx dragons and this is my son, Mir." If Grendel was shocked, he hid it well.

"I….see. Interesting. So Freud finally decides to take risks, I'm sure befriending you was a hard task. Come inside we'll have a chat." Afrien stayed outside near the window for obvious reasons and the group hurdled around a table near the huge dragon and they both exchanged stories. Grendel grumbles about the fact that it took weeks to get the books he wanted to study out from the library as the librarian there was fussy while Evan and Freud explains what they were doing up till now and the spirit pact.

"A spirit pact you say? Now that term hasn't been used in a long while. Not since the warlords reign…" Freud raised an eyebrow and gestured for Grendel to explain "I heard about someone attempting to force a spirit pact onto another powerful demon against its will. Sadly, it never worked and the intense magic backfired, killing the mage. No one else attempted it again as the risks were too high. Should you have not been truthful the same would have happened to you both!" The last sentence was somewhat shouted angrily at the two, when Grendel said risk he didn't knew that the first few ones the auburn haired mage took would be this high. Freud was usually very careful.

The duo couldn't say much and even Afrien was silent. "But still…. I'm glad that Master made one with me! Then I can be with Master forever! You're not gonna stop me old man!" Mir yelled childishly(and rudely) the whole group was shocked until Afrien nodded in agreement. "I have to agree. It would feel odd now if Freud was not at my side." The mages felt touched as Grendel slumped back into the seat "Fine do as you will, it is a known fact that Spirit pact cannot be severed once made. Honestly I'm too old for this."

"What about these 'warlords' you were talking about Grandpa?" Evan asked curiously as he hugged Mir. "Ah yes. Another term I have not heard in a quite some time. It was back then, around several centuries ago, the demon king had not risen yet and they were the usual terrors that plague the town, took whatever they wanted the lot of them. But fifty years ago, all of a sudden they just….stopped. Rumors say they were contracted to someone and the assaults on village ceased. That didn't last long though, they were the cause for creating the demon king, that was unexpected for them."

"Anyway they _are_ still there but probably one or two are active I don't know about the rest though….." Grendel said with a cough. Freud stared at the old wizard with suspicion, he knew the mage wasn't the best liar ever and that he was definitely lying now. "Alright then, that's interesting trivia for Evan. But where are the books that you were talking about?" Grendel visibly flinched as he went for several books. Freud picked one of them up " 'Equilibrium' this is about balancing light and dark mana. Is there something that you do not understand about this?" Freud asked suspiciously.

"Ummm well…" Freud flipped through page after page, scanning it quickly before shutting the tome, glancing at the still squirming Grendel.

"Grendel old friend, what is it that you truly called me for?" Freud asked as Evan watched curiously "This material is something you normally would not browse unless necessary. What is your motive?" Grendel finally stopped squirming and looked up to meet a questioning gaze. "Well you see-" The door to Grendel's apartment burst opened as a girl frantically stepped in and scanned the room until her eyes landed on Grendel "What wrong Lania?" Grendel asked hastily as he stood up from his seat.

"Come quick! Lumi is struggling in pain! Please help him!" Grendel went to comfort the sobbing child as the group stared in confusion. "Child run back and provide as much relief as you can we will be there with help as soon as possible." Grendel ushered Lania out as he made preparations. "Are we going as well?" Freud asked as Evan and Mir stood up with him. "Yes, you asked the true reason I've called you here. You're about to find out as I've no time to explain."

The group arrived at a area surrounded with odd demons and beasts who were attracted to the strong dark mana being released forcefully. "Evan, Mir and Afrien. Do your best to prevent them from entering the house. Me and Grendel will see the source of the problem." The trio nodded and got to work, chasing away various demons who wanted to pounce on the house and others who wanted to attack by air. Grendel and Freud immediately dashed into the house to see a man wearing priest robes with slightly grayish hair barely reaching his shoulders. The man gasped and struggled in pain as his folded bird wings turned black then to white and the process continues the same with the man's robes and hair.

"That man is….! No, now's not the time, I see the problem now." Freud said as he assisted Grendel with the medicine, the auburn haired mage took down the reflective barrier and casted buffs to allow Grendel to come close and make the man swallow the pills. The effect was slow at first, but the dark mana eventually(and temporarily)became suppressed. Freud started casting healing spells and watched as the man eventually calms down, his breathing back to normal.

Freud then dash back out to see that the demons and beasts started scattering. The trio came in with minor injuries which was easily tended to, they sat around the now sleeping peacefully man. "I suppose I should explain." Grendel said as he sat down. "You see, this 'demon' is one of the warlords we were talking about. His name is Luminous. Shortly after he managed to flee from the demon king's attack, he was blown here, badly injured. Lania found him and took care of him." Said girl was passing some tea while her cat was at a corner licking itself.

"He used to be one who wields the power of the sun goddess, Amaterasu. However, after managing to escape from the demon king, he met his greatest rival. He who wields Tsukuyomi's power, the god of the night. They clashed and in the end they unintentionally fused together, the two now fight to gain dominance over each other."

Freud nodded as he filed away the story while Evan and Mir just stood there confused. "So you called me here to show that dominance isn't the answer and that if the both of them could achieve Equilibrium, it would be best for both?" Grendel nodded "Well that's the gist of it. They wouldn't listen to an old coop like myself so I thought you could have a shot at it." Despite the serious situation Freud gave a smile. "So you're admitting you're not young anymore?"

"Oh shut it. People age. Just hope I last long enough to taunt _you_ in your old age." Evan was pondering about something for awhile until an odd question surfaced "Hey grandpa, what's their names?" Grendel felt confused and gestured him to explain "W-Well if two of them make Luminous then what are their names if they were separate?" Lania bounced in just then to answer.

"Oh that! Lumi's light half is called Sunfire while his dark half is Eclipse! He told me once." The girl giggled as she went back to Luminous's side. Mir's stomach growled then, drawing attention to him "Hey Master, Where are the blue slimes? I'm hungry~" The baby dragon nudged Evan's side until Afrien's head poked in through the door. "I just saw them awhile back. Freud you don't mind if I take Mir hunting do you? Just fill me in later." Freud gestured him to go ahead.

As the door shut close, Luminous began to stir and looked up sleepily at the group. "Lumi you're alright! Thank goodness!" Lania hugged Luminous happily while the man just looked shock at the sudden attack. He smiled before gently petting the girl. Evan whispered to Freud "And you would think he causes trouble with a title like warlord when you see him so gentle like that."

"Oh that. Apparently it was Eclipse who got the title for both of them as they are really similar without the colour contrast." Grendel elaborated and Evan gave the classic 'oh' gesture. After Luminous assured Lania that he was fine, he scanned the room to see Grendel who he gave a grateful nod too until his eyes landed on two different mages. Now Luminous had good eyesight, but at that time it was really blurry and he had acted without thinking after seeing a rather familiar silhouette.

"You!" Luminous yelled completely enraged while pointing at Freud, Luminous pushed the startled Lania behind him as he glared at Freud. The auburn haired mage blink in surprise as he turned to stare at the heterochromatic demon before pointing a finger at himself.

"Me?"

"Yes you! What are _you_ doing here?!" Luminous growled as he grabbed his nearby shining rod and charged at Freud who looked confused and shocked at the same time.

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**Oh what could Lumi mean? (Is this counted as a cliffhanger...XD)**

**Anyway Please review~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there- *Various weaponry and pie gets thrown at me* Why pie?**

**Spare me! I had projects to worry about! I'll try to get more chapters up for this fic and my other fic so don't kill me T.T!**

**Snowyh2o: Haha~ I enjoyed reading your review! *Hugs and gives cake* Mir went out with Afrien but Evan didn't follow. Freud can handle himself...probably, hopefully, maybe? Don't worry Evan i didn't forget about you, there will be fluff here including you so no worries. And yes Sunfire and Eclipse, behave yourselves.**

**well, on with the chapter!**

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Freud didn't expect that Luminous had all of a sudden attacked him, and the auburn haired mage wasn't so sure why either. Freud stood up but a chair blocked him behind and a table on his right, Evan was left. So he took out his wand to block Luminous's shining rod but the difference in length wasn't exactly fair. Evan came in and blasted Luminous with a fire ball making the warlord put some distance between them until Grendel popped out from behind to restrain him. "Luminous calm down! I don't know what Freud did to upset you but think through it first!"

Luminous growled defiantly as his hair changed into a slight black colour but he did as he was told and took a few deep breaths. The warlord's eyesight had became less blurry and widened in shock "You're….not _him_." Freud placed a hand over Evan's wand "I'm glad that we have the misunderstanding sorted out." Luminous gave muttered a apology as he placed down his weapon while mumbling some other weird things like 'soul' and 'almost similar'. The earth shook as two enraged dragon flew in and broke a nice big hole in Lania's house.

"Master are you all right?!" Afrien and Mir shouted at the same time and rushed to check on the two. Freud chuckled at the mother hen expression Afrien had while Mir nudged Evan gently. Although the moment ended as a cat pounced on Evan and started scratching him "O-ouch!" "That's a nice hole there! What, is the door non-existent?!" Lania grabbed Penny before he could maim the boy any further. Freud healed some of the more deep scratches.

"I apologize. We'll have you repair the place." Grendel nodded in approval as he went and handed the 'Equilibrium' book to Freud. "Consider this a favour and a request from me. Luminous assisted me once and I'd like to do the same but this magic is far above my limits." a upset look replaced his usual expression but it disappeared. "Alright then." Lania in the meantime tried to sate both Luminous and Penny from ripping the 'lizards' to shreds '_Honestly,'_ she thought '_I'm glad that they're agreeing to something together for once but maiming people shouldn't be the topic!_'

And then begins their repairing task.

Afrien and Mir would go and get wood while Freud and Evan hammered everything in place. Luminous and Lania would often come to help as well. Afrien actually quite enjoyed the little lady's company and Lania was the same; they were usually found chatting about stories over tea. The group found out that Sunfire was actually the housewife type and a really reliable one at that (Surprisingly) and would be gentle with Lania(and often Evan) though he was still wary around the two mages. Eclipse never really got out at all so the group never met him as Luminous would show signs of fighting back and would immediately suppress him. Freud would occasionally frown in thought. Sunfire had never let Eclipse out so the auburn haired mage couldn't judge what type of person(or demon) he was. It was like the good half was pushing him down for the mere fact that he was evil and that he _still_ considered Eclipse a huge problem.

Until one night, he got out. Evan was the one who saw him first. The boy was out to enjoy the soothing night, a habit that he picked up from his mentor until the mage felt Luminous not too far away and decided to check. Evan found that Luminous wasn't in his usual white robes. Which can only mean…the boy's eyes widened in shock as he felt the other's eye on him along with a terrifying smirk. In a flash Eclipse disappeared and reappeared in front of the still stunned Evan and unfurled his pitch black wings. "W-why are you out?"

"Aw why? Do you not like me?" Eclipse smirks as his blood red eyes gleamed. "Um not really its just-" "That I terrify you? Strike fear in your heart? Ahh now _that_ I haven't done in awhile." Evan stared at the wings with interest, it looked so fluffy and soft; wonder whether its like Mir's leathery wings. "Umm do you mind if I touch that?" Freud would have smacked him for not setting priorities right. Eclipse seem to blink in surprise before shrugging and brought one of his wings close to the boy's hand. Evan was shocked at how, well, nice the demon was compared to what he had heard(no, not because the wings were incredibly soft.) "Why are you so different from what've heard?"

Eclipse seemed to ponder about that "Who's to say? Perhaps its because Sunfire's personality slipped into me. Perhaps I'm feeling incredibly nice right now; Or perhaps its because that damn girl kept on treating me so…so nicely." Damn girl? "Oh you mean Lania. Yeah, she's a nice girl." Eclipse glare seem to return in full force. "W-wait! We didn't touched her at all or harmed her!" That seemed to calm him down.

"Who said I was worried about her?" Evan fidgeted a bit as he decided on an answer. "W-well….its just a feeling. You seem to be protective of her the moment I mentioned her." Was it his imagination or was there a slight blush on the supposedly 'evil' and 'fear' striking warlord's face? "Well then your 'feeling' is wrong. I don't give a f*** about her." Evan gasped at the word "You shouldn't cuss like that!" he pouted as he crossed his hands in front of him. Eclipse blinked once, then twice before bursting out into laughter while covering his face with one hand.

"Kid, you're a few centuries too young to tell me that." Evan blushed in embarrassment as Eclipse laughed again. "Ah that was amusing. Haven't talked to someone in awhile without them trying to kill me since Sunfire almost never lets me out and that old man is helping him do so."

"What did you do to make them so wary of you?" Eclipse merely gave a smirk "Just the usual betrayal, killing and slaughtering. Humans are easy to kill and its fun to watch them squirm in fear." Evan shivered as the temperature dropped a few degrees. "Alright then, how come you're out?" "For a human. You ask too much." But still the boy asked with determination and curiosity which Eclipse felt; and was the only reason why Evan wasn't six feet under yet. "Turns out that Sunfire slipped up and I used that chance to take over control. He won't be out for awhile."

Evan went closer until a shining rod was pointed at his throat "Stay away. You may be familiar with that girl and all but I haven't thought of what to consider you." Evan gulped and took a few steps back. Although that was a complete lie; Eclipse just wanted to prevent himself from going soft, he already deemed the boy harmless since he allowed him to touch his wing without any resistance. "Its getting late. Go back." Eclipse orders with a growl as he lowers his weapon.

"What about you?"

"I'll stay here. The night is my domain, my comfort zone; there is no need to go anywhere when I'm comfortable here. And besides, if you want to talk to me more than you can wait. I already told you that Sunfire won't come back for awhile, maybe two or three days or perhaps I can hold on to this body forever." The last part was said with a smirk so Evan hastily retreated back into the house. '_That kid is interesting and amusing too. I'll have to keep an eye out for him, but I get the feeling that I've met him before…umm have I?_'

The next day that Evan woke up, he immediately did his daily necessities and went to see Eclipse. He brought Mir along with him because the dragon was interested after he told him what had happened. The two entered the house to see…..a very interesting sight.

"Yay! Eclipse is out! Not that I don't like Sunfire but Eclipse is nice too!" Lania was squealing and hugging as well as dragging a slightly flustered Eclipse into the kitchen to help her make breakfast. "H-hey wait stop! I can't cook!" Lania giggled as she put on an apron "Don't be silly! What Sunny knows you know too and don't you deny it!" Eclipse actually _pouted_ (A/N Omgtheworldisending!) before listening, how the girl managed to wrap him of all people around her finger is beyond him. Evan really couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing. Its official, demons could be cute too.

Freud came down from his room because of the ruckus and looked around before focusing on Eclipse. He didn't show his surprise when Evan and Lania was teasing him while helping around Mir often cracked jokes and asked questions to the warlord while bringing in ingredients that Afrien helped pick earlier this morning. Evan finally noticed his mentor and waved his hand. "Master Freud we're almost done with the 'evil' recipe Eclipse taught us!" Eclipse whacked Evan with his rod before grumbling and finishing his task; ignoring the giggling from Lania and snorts from penny.

Freud went and helped them set up the table "Well this is a pleasant surprise. Then again I'm not against the fact that you are quite the gentle being. My apprentice seemed to have already gotten attached to you." Eclipse snorted "Yeah right gentle. I can still wipe out a village or two on my own. Perhaps I should, I've been losing my touch with those two over there." Cue the duo puppy eyes and pout. Eclipse turned away, not wanting to face it. "Oh now that's interesting. Care to share how you 'lost your touch'?" Noticing Eclipse wasn't saying a word he turned his glance over to Lania.

The girl understood immediately what he wanted to ask "Oh back then clipsy was the epitome of denial and cuteness! Trust me you didn't believe how many times he denied something that was completely true!" Eclipse sent the deadliest glare he could to Lania which managed to make demons so scared they fled; but she waved it off as it was nothing. "Lania-"

"Oh come now clipsy, it shouldn't be that bad to tell them. They are interested and curious so they'll find out somehow even if I shut my mouth." Eclipse grumbled out loud and then glared at Freud and Evan which the two interpreted as 'if you tell anyone else, I'll hunt you down and slaughter you.'

"Ok then where do I start? Lets see…."

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**Ha! In other words Eclipse is the epitome of tsundere! **

**Eclipse: Why did you make me turn out like that! I should be wreaking that accursed town, Elinia and have killed that girl! Not making breakfast for them! *Snarls***

**Me: People want fluff clipsy and it won't do if there is blood on your hands. Besides deep down i know you're a nice guy.**

**Eclipse: Still-**

**Me: If you still don't agree, i'll abuse my power as the authoress and make Lania dress you up before letting Sunfire conquer you.**

***Silence* Eclipse: Fine.**

**Muhahaha! Umm i mean *Cough* well that's all for now. I'll update as soon as possible.**

**Please review~**


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